Behind the Scenes: Sowing Solidarity

November and December is when Sisters of the Road receives roughly a third of our revenue for the year. I’ve participated in six end-of-year fundraising campaigns at various organizations over the years. Still, I always get nervous, like I’m waiting for the first people to show up at a party that I’m hosting.

This year, I’m asking another question: How can we make our fundraising campaign an opportunity to build community?

I wanted to pull back the curtain on our fundraising team’s efforts to answer that question as we prepare for the giving season. Each of us, in our own way, are working to strengthen connections and build relationships.

Elle Appleton–Grants and Donor Relations Coordinator

Elle is, by a wide margin, our donor appreciation champion. She has personally thanked almost 100 donors for supporting Sisters in the last six weeks alone. When you support us, expect a call or text from Elle.

In addition to sharing Sisters’ gratitude, Elle is also hard at work organizing our peer-to-peer fundraising team. She’s assisting and training people, including our Board of Directors, on how to become fundraisers for Sisters themselves. Peer-to-peer fundraising is a powerful way to contribute to Sisters. It provides an opportunity for fundraisers to speak with their loved ones about the issues at hand, connect over shared concern, and collaborate with Sisters to work together towards finding solutions.

If we each get five of our friends or family to hear us out, we can start changing the grip of harmful narratives. If each of those people donated, it would add up fast. Building community, one relationship at a time, has a compounding effect. We uphold this value in our mission, and in our fundraising efforts.

If you’re interested in joining our peer-to-peer fundraising team, you can reach Elle at elle@sistersoftheroad.org.

Kelcie Smolin Grega–Fundraising Campaign Coordinator

In their first few weeks at Sisters, Kelcie hit the ground running, eager to start building relationships in the community. She went around to businesses in Old Town with a clipboard, inviting people to our block party and exploring ways to work together. In her first four months, she tabled at two businesses’ and one organization’s fundraiser for Sisters, forging new connections.

If you get a letter or email acknowledging your donation to Sisters, Kelcie wrote it. In fact, over the next two months much of the correspondence you will see will be researched and written by Kelcie. All of this is meant to deepen people’s connection to Sisters.

If you own a business and want to find a way to partner with Sisters, contact Kelcie. If you want to help boost and promote our organization to your community, contact Kelcie. If you’re going to do a fundraiser for Sisters, contact Kelcie You can reach Kelcie at: kelcie@sistersoftheroad.org.

George Bonoan – Communications Specialist

If you’ve read our Sisters’ Voice Newsletter...

If you’ve seen some of the videos and graphics we’ve posted to social media…

If, last year, you got one of our “vintage” stickers modeled after the historic sign above our door, then you’ve seen the fruits of George’s labor.

George and I started at Sisters on the same day. We inherited a multitude of communication channels that had lain mostly dormant for months. Together, we used these channels to revitalize Sisters’ role as an important community voice. More importantly, we started talking to our community again and we were honest about the state of our organization and the values we hold.

People tell us all the time they look at Sisters' posts to help them navigate and understand policy decisions being made around homelessness in our community. That network of affinity wouldn’t have come into being without George’s work. If you’ve appreciated that work, send a thank you note to George at: george@sistersoftheroad.org.

Maddie Criglow – Communications and Fundraising Associate

Maddie is the newest member of our fundraising team as of this week. As someone brand new to Sisters, you can imagine that a lot of her time right now is being spent learning. On one of her first days she told me, “I love talking on the phone.” Music to the ears of any fundraising director.

Making thank you calls to donors is how I spent much of my first months at Sisters. During some of those calls I formed bonds with people that continue to grow.

Feel free to send a welcome message to Maddie at: maddie@sistersoftheroad.org.

Justice Alexander Hager – Communications and Fundraising Director

From early on, I understood that building relationships is fundamental to Sisters’ mission. I believe that applies to everyone, customers, and donors. That’s why I made those thank-you calls, and why we decided to promote eight other organizations as part of our end-of-year fundraising efforts. That’s why I offered to meet and give advice to development staff at other organizations in succeeding in their first year participating in Willamette Week’s Give!Guide.

As someone who spent almost a decade as a door-to-door canvasser, I am firmly grounded in a community-organizing theory of change. We build change one person, one conversation at a time. We can only make change together. I am proud to have found a home in Sisters where these ideas are foundation.

Sometimes, people start making change by liking and sharing a social media post. Maybe later, they become a donor. Next, they show up and volunteer their time or testify to the city council. Before you know it, they are a leader in their own network or neighborhood pushing for systemic change.

I told my family and friends this summer when I launched my own personal fundraiser for Sisters, I want people to donate not because we need the money (although we do). I want people to be a part of a profound community working to unite around a common cause: creating a city that’s livable and affordable for all of us.

I wish that for everyone reading this, even if it just starts with sending this blog post to five of your friends.